Six species of redhorse
are native to Minnesota: the
greater,
black,
golden,
river,
silver,
and
shorthead (pictured above), which is the most common species of redhorse in Minnesota, All are members of the
sucker family,
as are the
white sucker,quillback,
and the various species of buffalo fish (such as the
bigmouth
buffalo). Redhorse, like other
members of this family, are bony but edible, and are often
pickled
or
smoked.
Though these species are considered undesirable rough fish and are generally
not pursued by anglers, the DNR does keep records for many members of the
sucker family. In case you're interested, available records for the species listed
above are shorthead redhorse, 7-15; river redhorse, 12-10; golden redhorse,
3-15; silver redhorse, 9-15; greater redhorse, 12-11; white sucker, 9-1; quillback,
6-14; and bigmouth buffalo, 41-11
(Minnesota DNR,
2014.